When it comes to prioritizing public dollars on transportation, infrastructure or development projects, Charles Marohn has a message for struggling cities like Scranton: think smaller.

Presenting a bigger-is-not-always-better philosophy, Mr. Marohn - an engineer and land-use planner with the Brainerd, Minn.-based nonprofit organization Strong Towns - spoke Tuesday at a "Curbside Chat" at Weston Field House in Scranton.

The mission of the nonpartisan Strong Towns is to promote "a model of growth that allows America's towns to become financially strong and resilient," Mr. Marohn said. He gave an overview of America's post-WWII development pattern of building expensive infrastructure that now is crumbling, and the state, federal and local governments do not have money for repairs. The current path of cities is not sustainable, their future won't resemble their recent pasts, and their future prosperity will depend on "the ability of local leaders to transform their communities," he said.

The solution, in part, is to spend scarce public dollars on smaller projects that enhance communities rather than single large projects, such as highways, that consume resources and do not necessarily deliver the biggest bang for the buck, he said.

"We think all new infrastructure is going to lead to growth and be good," Mr. Marohn said. However, "Our future will be a collection of small projects."

Three adults and two young children attended the presentation. Scranton resident Marie Schumacher said the talk was interesting and resonated with her. For example, she wondered what the city instead could have done with money that was spent on the Renaissance at 500 project on Lackawanna Avenue.

Mr. Marohn promotes his vision with a blog, website, podcast, social media and books. Along with private donations, Strong Towns receives support from the Blandin Foundation in Minnesota for the Curbside Chat program.

Eusebius Ballentine, whose family purchased an old dairy farm near Honesdale and converted it into a vegetable, fruit, nut and livestock farm called the Anthill Farm, attended the Curbside Chat with his wife and their daughter. He said he learned of Strong Towns from a podcast and donated to its cause so it could deliver its message on its tour of 10 locations in Pennsylvania this week.

"Any way we can improve the quality of our lives, I'm really into that," Mr. Ballentine said.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com

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